Top 3 Artist Books
- Grace Patey
- May 19, 2017
- 2 min read
Reading can be a boring and lengthy task but only when you're reading the wrong books. If you're into fine art here's the three books I think are a necessary read.
There are a plethora of books on Jean-Michel Basquiat but this is by far my favourite on the 80s King. This book couldn't help but make me wonder what the man would have been doing now, who he would be collaborating with and what issues he'd be exploring if he hadn't so tragically passed in '88. No one has ever quite got primitivism like Basquiat did and this is a beautiful look back on the man's successes. It's everything we know about Basquiat and then some. This book covers all the facts and tries to decipher the artist's personality as well as his role in the NYC art scene.
A classic go-to book from a go-to artist. Tracey Emin is one of the most important artists in contemporary art and this auto-biography really explores the importance of what was her normal day-to-day split into three parts: Motherland, Fatherland and Traceyland. This book is definitely not one for the light hearted as it covers all sorts of issues she faced including child sex, rape and abortion. It's a really deep insight into where she's come from and you can see how her experiences have shaped her very confessional work from her time spent in Turkey and her strictly anal sex only relationship. At times you can undoubtedly picture the artist sat in her famous bed while these stories take place. Whilst the 90s may have been her peak, she's still making intriguing work and this book makes everything a little clearer as well as giving you a refreshed outlook on life.
Whilst this isn't strictly a book on fine art it really opens your mind up to what seeing is and what it isn't and art being a largely visual subject matter, I think it's quite insightful. One review on the back cover reads, 'Huxley has put so much of his personality and individual style into this book that it should interest everybody, whatever the condition of their sight.'
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